Rooney boost for title tilt

WAYNE ROONEY is fit and raring to go for Manchester United at Sunderland on Sunday.

The 34-goal striker has shrugged off a groin strain and returns to training today.

United boss Alex Ferguson had feared Rooney's season was over after he suffered the injury eight days ago.

But the 24-year-old has once again defied medical opinion to declare himself fit and give United a massive boost in the Premier League title race.

Rooney has had a number of injury problems in the last two months.

He first started to suffer from an inflamed kneecap and then damaged tendons in his ankle in the Champions League quarter-final in Bayern Munich.

Despite being on crutches and having a foot cast he missed only one game and was back for the return tie with Bayern.

He aggravated the injury in that game but returned for the Manchester derby before picking up his latest groin problem during a training session.

Rio Ferdinand, who has missed the last two games with a groin injury, will also train today and believes he will be fit for the Sunderland game.

United go mad for Modric style

MANCHESTER UNITED have made Luka Modric their No 1 summer transfer target.

The Red Devils are preparing a £25million bid for Tottenham's 24-year-old Croatian midfielder.

United boss Alex Ferguson sees Modric as a young Paul Scholes, an attacking midfielder and ball player who can make United tick.

Fergie was even full of praise for Modric in his programme notes ahead of their 3-1 home win over Spurs on Saturday.

Talking about the 5ft 8in player and other small talents in football he commented: "And I give you another wee man who'll be at Old Trafford this afternoon: Luka Modric, who is playing out of his skin at the moment."

Modric signed for Spurs from Dinamo Zagreb in 2008 after impressing for Croatia in the European Championships.

He signed a six-year contract after the clubs agreed a £16.5m fee.

Modric struggled early in his first season as he was played out of position by Juande Ramos as a deep-lying midfielder and also had knee trouble.

It was only when Harry Redknapp took over and pushed him further forward that his career at White Hart Lane took off.

His start to this season was curtailed by a broken leg in August but he returned in December and has been in great form during Spurs' push for a Champions League spot.

The move for Modric is bad news for Michael Carrick, who looks to have lost favour with Ferguson.

Carrick has only started one of the last five games after two poor performances against Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-finals.

Spurs boss Redknapp is a huge fan of Carrick and may insist on him being part of any Modric deal.

Fletcher: We'll fight for the title until the last second

Darren Fletcher has warned Chelsea that late-goal specialists Manchester United will fight right to the last second of the title race.

United have kept the pressure up on Chelsea going into Sunday's title D-Day thanks to their late shows against Manchester City and Tottenham.

Nani and Ryan Giggs scored in the last nine minutes to grab a priceless win against Spurs, following Paul Scholes' stoppage-time winner at City.

Sir Alex Ferguson's men are masters at snatching games at the death and they have bagged 28 goals in the last ten minutes of matches this season.

Incredibly, 18 of those goals have come in the last five minutes of matches and ten in stoppage time.

Fletcher puts their number of late goals down to their unshakable belief and the Scot says they never give up.

He says the secret is to remain composed when the temptation is to resort to kitchen-sink tactics.

"The manager said before the Spurs game that it might go down to the last ten minutes and it did," said Fletcher. "The important thing is we keep believing in the way we play.

"We don't get desperate. We throw players forward, but the play isn't desperate, it's not just long balls into the box.

"We believe in passing, getting it wide and creating the right opportunities. Sometimes the fans might want the ball forward early, but 50-50 balls aren't good enough. You need to keep playing football and create good scoring chances.

"That's what we did against City and Tottenham and we got our rewards."

Fergie: Evra's the best in the business

Sir Alex Ferguson has hailed Patrice Evra as the best left-back in the world and identified him as Manchester United's unsung hero this season.

While Wayne Rooney has taken all the plaudits for his 34-goal heroics, United boss Fergie singled out Evra as his most consistent performer this term.

Evra, who has played in every one of United's Premier League games this season, beat Chelsea and England left-back Ashley Cole to be named in the PFA Team of the Year.

Although Cole is widely regarded as the most accomplished left-back in world football, Evra's fellow professionals gave him the nod ahead of the Chelsea and England star.

And United boss Fergie claimed no other Premier League player had come close to matching the French international for consistency of performance this season.

"The form of Evra has been sensational all season," said Fergie. There's no-one near Evra's consistency. No-one.

"He's the one player who has not missed any games. He's only not started one Premier League game all season.

"We rested him at Blackburn because he I think he needed a break then, but he came on as a sub there and has done tremendously well since then.

"If you look at the rest of our back four, it's all been scattered appearances.

"With that in mind, we've done remarkably well to still be in the picture despite the handicap of our back-four players being injured."

With Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, John O'Shea, Jonny Evans, Gary Neville and Rafael Da Silva all sidelined at some stage this season, Evra has been the one constant for United.

Evra won the penalty that set United on their way to a crucial 3-1 win over Tottenham last weekend, with a typical attacking run, before being forced off after being sick on the pitch.

The 28-year-old had been struggling with a bug in the build-up to the Spurs game, but Fergie said it was a measure of Evra's dependability that he insisted on playing for United.

"Evra was sick at half-time and eventually we had to take him off because the problem was dehydration," said Fergie.

"We had a bit of sickness with two or three players but Patrice felt okay to play and wanted to play."

Fergie: Foster can still be United's No.1

Sir Alex Ferguson is willing to give goalkeeper Ben Foster a final chance to prove he has what it takes to succeed Edwin Van der Sar as Manchester United's No.1.

Foster began the season in goal for United, with Van der Sar injured, but has fallen down the pecking order and is currently third-choice behind Tomasz Kuszczak.

But Fergie has challenged Foster, who recently signed a new four-year deal with United, to show why he is regarded as England's future No.1 goalkeeper.

"Ben has been unfortunate," said Fergie. "His performance for the reserves the other night was tremendous and it showed the fantastic talent he's got.

"He made some mistakes earlier in the season, Kusczcak got in, and his form has been great.

"Tomasz has had a great season. Every time he's played he's been outstanding. So what do I do? Pick Ben because he's English or go with form? I have to go with form.

"Tomasz has been in better form than Ben this year. That's the only reason. But Ben will come back. He'll be tremendous next season. He's still young."

The rise of Nani

Wayne Rooney isn't the only player who's enjoyed his best season in a United shirt in 2009/10.

Nani, instrumental in the Reds' win over Tottenham last weekend, has been in tip-top form this term, particularly since the turn of the year.

He's found the net three times in his last two Old Trafford outings, but did you know those goals (one against Tottenham, two against Bayern Munich) were the winger’s first for United since August? Probably not. But it’s precisely because Nani’s all-round contribution was so significant that his lack of goals went largely unnoticed.

The well-held view that he's producing his best form since signing from Sporting Lisbon in 2007 is borne out in the statistics above, which show the impact the winger has had when he's taken to the pitch (and, perhaps more tellingly, when he doesn’t). For instance, United in 2009/10 win more often, score more goals and lose far fewer games when Nani plays. And of the 11 defeats United have suffered this season, only one has come when Nani has started. Even then – away to Bayern Munich – he won the free-kick and whipped in the resulting cross from which Wayne Rooney scored.

His service from wide areas has improved markedly in 2009/10. In the Premier League alone he has 10 assists to his name, a figure that ignores the part he played in forcing own goals against Arsenal and Portsmouth (two). Add those to the tally and then only Cesc Fabregas and Frank Lampard have created more goals in the league this season.

In Europe, too, Nani was inspirational, playing key roles in goals scored away from home at Besiktas, CSKA Moscow, Wolfsburg and Bayern Munich... and then there was the Bayern brace he bagged at Old Trafford. So, although goals may not have flown from his boots at regular intervals across the season, the sparks certainly have.

Nani, we salute you.

United in 2009/10

With Nani(32 games)

Won: 25 (78%)

Drawn: 4 (12.5%)

Lost: 3 (9.5%)

GF: 71 (2.21 goals per game)

Without Nani(22 games)

Won: 13 (59%)

Drawn: 1 (4.5%)

Lost: 8 (36.5%)

GF: 43 (1.95 goals per game)

Gerrard: Forget Man United, we want to beat Chelsea

Steven Gerrard insists he wants to beat Chelsea - even though victory could hand Manchester United the title.

Many Kopites would accept losing to Chelsea at Anfield on Sunday if it meant denying their hated rivals the Premier League crown.

United will move clear of Liverpool's tally of 18 titles if they triumph this season and this would be too much for Reds' fans to take.

Gerrard is well aware of the supporters' fears, but says the players are focused on beating Chelsea and Hull in their last two games to boost their faint Champions League hopes.

"We've got a couple of games left now and the idea is to take maximum points to see if we can get into fourth through the back door," said the Reds skipper.

"If we take maximum points, who knows? The teams above us might slip up. All we have done is keep the pressure on those above us."

Gerrard, 29, claims Liverpool can only think about themselves and his big worry is that Everton might finish above them.

Rafa Benitez's side need just one more point to banish that spectre and for Gerrard that would be the final indignity of their hugely-disappointing season.

"We are underdogs for fourth position, but our fans know that we have also got Everton breathing down our necks and we certainly don't want them finishing above us," said the midfielder.

Liverpool's 4-0 win at Burnley was their first league away win this year - and Gerrard knows that is unacceptable for a club like Liverpool.

Gerrard, who scored twice in an outstanding performance at Turf Moor, was heartened by the Reds' improved display against the Clarets even if it may have come too late to affect the race for fourth.

"We won't give up, but it would be stupid of me to say this or that is going to happen. It's important to be realistic," said the England star.

"We haven't been good enough away. When you can't score and you lose your top striker, it can damage belief and affect your confidence, but this was much better."

The win was the ideal boost for Liverpool as they attempt to overturn their 1-0 deficit in Thursday's Europa League showdown with Atletico Madrid at Anfield.

Gerrard is bullish about Liverpool's prospects, despite missing top scorer Fernando Torres.

"We've won games like this before and we hope we can do it again," he said. "We're going to put everything into that game and Thursday can't come quickly enough."